Lucifer

Version

2.0

Lucifer User Manual

Lucifer 2 An Effect Plug-in for Windows and Macintosh OS X Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Devine Machine LLC. Program Copyright (c) 2004-2006 Devine Machine LLC. All rights reserved. Program by Steve Duda Additional concepts by Link User interface by Deadmau5 (www.deadmau5.com) Manual by stevejay (steve@stevejay.net)

Getting in TouchIf you experience any problems while using this plug-in, or you just wish to pass on your comments, you can email the developer at: steve@devine-machine.com. Alternatively, you can find help and advice in the official Devine Machine forum on the excellent K-v-R website: www.kvraudio.com. Additional information about Lucifer and the other excellent Devine Machine software is available from the Devine Machine website: www.devine-machine.com.

Demo VersionIf you are using the demo version of Lucifer, please be aware of the following limitations:

8-bit funky guitar in the background (on the upbeats of beat 1 and 2). You can save your edits of the demo plug-in but these edits can only be loaded into the full version.

VST Plugin Technology by Steinberg VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH All other copyrighted trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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Contents1.Introduction.....................................................................................................................6 Installing Lucifer...............................................................................................................7 Using Lucifer with your host.............................................................................................7 2.First words.....................................................................................................................10 Triggering effects using your MIDI keyboard.................................................................10 The Assignable Notes [C2] to [B2].................................................................................10 Triggering effects using the user interface controls.......................................................12 Triggering effects using MIDI Continuous Controllers....................................................12 Controlling effects using the graphs..............................................................................13 Range knobs..................................................................................................................13 Normal mode and Pitch mode.......................................................................................14 3.Synchronising Lucifer to the beat...............................................................................15 The Cycle Cursor...........................................................................................................15 The Playback Cursor.....................................................................................................16 Cycle Size (Bars).........................................................................................................16 Synchronising using the Sync button.............................................................................17 The BPM knob and the Tap Tempo note [C1]................................................................17 4.Loop for life....................................................................................................................19 Loop...............................................................................................................................19 QUANT..........................................................................................................................20 End................................................................................................................................21 NoteLock........................................................................................................................22 Buffers...........................................................................................................................23 Input Lock......................................................................................................................23 Mix Button .....................................................................................................................23 5.The Loop position modifiers........................................................................................26 Groove...........................................................................................................................26 Spread...........................................................................................................................26 MicroSpread..................................................................................................................27 Bounce...........................................................................................................................28 Dotted............................................................................................................................28 Triplet.............................................................................................................................28 6.The Loop sound modifiers...........................................................................................29 Gate...............................................................................................................................29 Gate Decay....................................................................................................................29 Length Knob..................................................................................................................30 3

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Blend .............................................................................................................................30 Reverse.........................................................................................................................30 Attack.............................................................................................................................31 Release..........................................................................................................................31 Hyper.............................................................................................................................31 Ping Pong......................................................................................................................32 Pitch Change.................................................................................................................32 7.Getting graphic..............................................................................................................33 The Twenty-Four GraphSets..........................................................................................33 GraphSet Keys..............................................................................................................33 Grid Quantize.................................................................................................................34 Smooth..........................................................................................................................34 Gate...............................................................................................................................35 Peak...............................................................................................................................35 The Arrows.....................................................................................................................36 The Arrow modifiers.......................................................................................................36 Copy and Paste.............................................................................................................37 Rand..............................................................................................................................37 Pos Chase.....................................................................................................................37 Drawing with MIDI Continuous Controller #98 (or GraphRecorder VSTparameter)......37 8.Volume and Pan.............................................................................................................39 Volume & Pan On/Off button.........................................................................................39 Volume graph.................................................................................................................39 Pan graph......................................................................................................................39 9.Filter II.............................................................................................................................41 Filter II On/Off button.....................................................................................................41 Filter II Type...................................................................................................................41 Filter II graphs................................................................................................................41 10.The EFFECTS section.................................................................................................43 EFFECTS graph On/Off button......................................................................................43 EFFECTS graph Pre/Post button..................................................................................43 EFFECTS graph Effect Type.........................................................................................43 Scratching and the Scratch graph.................................................................................47 Scratch knob .................................................................................................................47 How to scratch...............................................................................................................47 11.The Incarn effect..........................................................................................................49 Activating the Incarn effect............................................................................................49 Explaining the effect......................................................................................................49 Smoothing the Incarn graph..........................................................................................53 Incarn Spread................................................................................................................53 Random Incarn..............................................................................................................53 Incarn Record................................................................................................................54 Scratching the Incarn graph...........................................................................................54 4

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12.The Crossfader and related effects...........................................................................55 The Crossfader..............................................................................................................55 Dry Thru.........................................................................................................................55 Crossfader Action..........................................................................................................55 VOL>XF.........................................................................................................................56 13.Pitch mode...................................................................................................................58 Pitch mode for melodies................................................................................................58 Pitch mode for scrubbing...............................................................................................59 Pitch mode and the Incarn graph...................................................................................59 14.X-Y Controller..............................................................................................................60 X and Y Menus..............................................................................................................60 15.Load/Save Buttons......................................................................................................60 Load your loops..and destroy!.......................................................................................60 Load / Save, and paths to enlightenment......................................................................61 16.Multiple Outputs..........................................................................................................61 17.Waveform Views..........................................................................................................62 Appendix 1: Tips...............................................................................................................63 Appendix 2: MIDI CC's.....................................................................................................64 Appendix 3: New to version 2.0......................................................................................66 Appendix 4: VSTparameter list.......................................................................................68

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1.IntroductionLucifer is a blood-red audio effect plug-in that can twist and warp your music into beautiful and deadly shapes. Using the combination of a MIDI keyboard and your computer's mouse, you can trigger repeats, reverse the audio, re-arrange it, scratch it, filter it, distort it, bounce it, and many other effects besides, all in real-time and all in time to the beat. Lucifer 2.0 adds many new exciting possiblilities audio file loading and saving, AutoRandom (randomize a graph at the end of each cycle), mix button (capture input audio as synchronized loops), 99 new 64-bit DSP effects, mutltiple outputs, multiple buffers, and much more! Lucifer is available (sold separately) in PC and Mac OS X versions. It is designed to be used within a host audio application that supports the VST plug-in format. For Mac OS X hosts that do not support the VST format, but that do support the Audio Units format, Lucifer can be used with the FXpansion VST-Audio Unit Adapter 6

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(http://www.fxpansion.com/). ProTools 7 users can use the 2.0 version of the Fxpansion VST-RTAS adapter. If you do not wish to purchase either of those products (though recommended) and you wish to run Lucifer in RTAS or AU formats, contact Devine-Machine about the possiblilty Keep in mind- Lucifer is a unique type of plugin (effect which can take MIDI notes as input), so in some hosts there may be configuration you are not used to (e.g. Logic Audio, inserting it as an Instrument and sidechain function for audio in).

Installing LuciferLucifer comes as zipped file which includes the plug-in (Lucifer2.dll on PC, Lucifer2.vst on OS X). Installing on the PC Unzip the files and move or copy lucifer.dll to the host's VST plug-ins folder. Please check the documentation for your host as to where this folder is located on your PC. Installing on Macintosh OS X Unzip the files and move or copy lucifer.vst to your VST plug-ins folder (e.g. ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST). If you wish to remove Lucifer from your computer, simply delete that plug-in file.

Using Lucifer with your hostBeing an effect, Lucifer makes no sound itself; it needs to have audio routed through it for the magic to begin. Also, although you can achieve some of its many audio manipulations just through use of the mouse, to take full advantage of the effects that Lucifer can produce you should have access to a MIDI keyboard. Route the MIDI data from this keyboard to the Lucifer plug-in within your host. If you're an experienced user of audio software, this set-up process will be straightforward and you could skip to the next chapter. But we all have to begin somewhere, so if you need some guidance, see the table that begins on the next page.

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Using Lucifer with your chosen hostLucifer is intended to be used as an insert effect, completely processing the audio that you route through it. Check the documentation for your host as to how you achieve this. You should also have a MIDI keyboard connected to pass MIDI information into your host. Instructions for using Lucifer with a variety of popular hosts are given below:

Logic Audio for Mac OS XInsert Lucifer as an instrument. Select sidechain in the Logic-area of the plug-in window, and choose the source audio track/aux to process. Logic is now routing the sound here, so you may wish to mute the source (MIXER) channel by turning its fader down in Logic (so that you dont hear both the wet and dry signals).

FLStudio for PCInsert Lucifer in a free slot in the External Effects Bank in the Mixer window. Open Lucifer and set the Port parameter in the top right-hand corner to an unused MIDI port (e.g. 5). Now, in the Step Sequencer, right-click on a row and select Insert Channel then MIDI Out to create a MIDI Out device. In the window that opens for that new channel, set the Port parameter to that same value (in this example, it's 5). You may alternatively use Lucifer 2.0 as a Generator in FL Studio. In this case it is impossible to access a realtime audio input, but you can use audio files as source material inside of Lucifer (new feature in 2.0 version).

EnergyXT for PCOpen an instance of Lucifer in the EnergyXT workspace, along with any sound sources you wish to process. Make the appropriate audio connections and then connect the Master In MIDI source to Lucifer's MIDI input.

Ableton Live for PC and Mac OS XInsert Lucifer into the Audio Effects section of an Audio track or the Master track. Create a MIDI track for controlling Lucifer. In Session View, set MIDI from to the MIDI input your keyboard is connected to and set MIDI to to the track containing Lucifer. You should now see Lucifer's name appear just below. Finally, either record-enable that MIDI track or make sure that its Monitor option is set to On. You may alternatively insert Lucifer on a MIDI track, and load audio files into Lucifer.

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Using Lucifer with your chosen host

Cubase SX/SL for PC and Mac OS XInsert Lucifer in an insert slot on an audio channel that you wish to process. Create a MIDI track and, for that track, select the MIDI In port that your MIDI keyboard is connected to as the in setting and lucifer as the out setting.

Cakewalk Sonar for PCOnce you have copied Lucifer into your Vstplugins folder, run the Cakewalk VST Adaptor program. When it has finished scanning your plug-ins, the VST Plug-In Configuration window appears. Find Lucifer in the list, highlight it then click on the 'Properties' button. In the window that opens, make sure that both the 'Enable as DX plug-in' and the 'Configure as DXi synth' options are ticked. (For Lucifer to receive MIDI data in Sonar, it has to be identified as a synthesiser plug-in.) When you have completed this configuration, Lucifer is ready for use. Open Sonar and load an instance of Lucifer into the FX bin of either an audio track or the audio output track of a DXi synth. Do this by right-clicking in that FX bin and selecting DXi Synth > VST > lucifer. Now insert a MIDI track into the project. Finally, set the input for that MIDI track to the MIDI input that your keyboard is connected to, and set the output for that MIDI track to lucifer.

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2.First wordsTriggering effects using your MIDI keyboardLucifer includes a variety of effects, and a variety of ways of bringing them into play. The most important and most immediate of those ways is to play particular notes on your MIDI keyboard. Many of the repeat-based effects are mapped to a two octave range of notes. This two octave range is repeated up the length of the MIDI keyboard, with the result that there is almost always more than one note to play to trigger a particular effect. The instructions in this manual often refer to the two octave range that spans the notes C1 to B2, as it is probably the most convenient range to play when using a regular five octave MIDI keyboard. The diagram on the next page illustrates both the effect assignments within this two octave range of notes, and also how that range is repeated across the length of the MIDI keyboard. This diagram will become a useful reference for you as the various effects get explained in subsequent chapters. Also, you can see from the diagram that there is an area of the MIDI keyboard highlighted in green - which does not have the two octave range of notes assigned to it. These are the Pitch Change notes and they will be also be explained in due course.

The Assignable Notes [C2] to [B2]C1 C2

All other MIDI notes in Lucifer have pre-set assignments, but these 7 ites are user assignable. You can choose yourself which effect each of these notes trigger, simply by clicking on (or pressing from MIDI) the desired key and then selecting an item in the menu to the right:Assignable Note Menu

Some of the choces in the menu include a value i.e. 50 or 100. This is the percentage amount of the particular effect that will be applied.

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C1 Tap1 2

Triplet1 4

Dotted Lock1 8

C2 Reverse1 16

Ping Pong1 32

C3 BounceAssignable Note 1 Assignable Note 2 Assignable Note 3 Assignable Note 4 Assignable Note 6 Assignable Note 7 Assignable Note 8

GraphSet keys

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B

The note assignments across the MIDI keyboard1 64 1 128 1 256 1 512 1 1024

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C5

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Triggering effects using the user interface controlsMost of the repeat effects in Lucifer also have related controls within the user interface. For example, the keyboard graphic at the bottom of the user interface can be used as a (poor) substitute for your MIDI keyboard. The notes in this display trigger the same effects as the corresponding two octave range of notes that's mapped across the MIDI keyboard. Be sure to try real MIDI to Lucifer as well, because interesting things will happen not possible with the mouse (e.g. Holding a black key and white key at the same time). For almost all of the knobs in the user interface, as well as being used for altering the exact sound of the assigned effect, they also turn that effect on and off. For these knobs, a setting of hard left switches the effect off, indicated visually by a change of appearance - the pointer on the knob disappears. Also, if you want to make fine adjustments to a knob's position, hold down the [Shift] key as you're turning it with the mouse. Finally, [Ctrl]-clicking ([Command]-click on OSX) on a knob will return it to its default position.

Triggering effects using MIDI Continuous ControllersMany of the controls in the Lucifer user interface also have MIDI Continuous Controller assignments. You can make use of these to control Lucifer using modulation wheels, MIDI knobs, MIDI faders, ribbon controllers etc. See Appendix 2 for a full list of these assignments.

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Controlling effects using the graphs

Graph display

Graph Selector tabs

Vertical white line is called the cycle cursor. See page 15.

Red blip = playback cursor. See page 16.

The upper half of the window is dominated by a graph display. Directly below this graph, there is a row of six Graph Selector tabs:There are in fact several graphs available, each controlling a particular parameter. The Graph Selector tabs are used to select which is to be the currently displayed graph. The shape you draw on that graph then tells Lucifer exactly how you want a particular effect to vary with time.

Range knobsThe Range knobs allow you to adjust the range / depth of the current visible graph. With these knobs set to their default positions (as shown in the screen shot to the left), the graph allows for the full (maximum) range to be sent out. But by changing the position of these knobs, you can restrict the base and range of the graph output. The default values for these two knobs are appropriate for many situations but if you wish to influence, for example, the filter's cut-off frequency in real-time, then these are the knobs to use. The left knob is Base, and sets the minimum graph value to be output. Think of this as a + control (add amount to graph).

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The right knob is Scale, and sets the overall range of the graph. If you want to automate a single knob, it is probably this one. Think of this as a * control (multiplying overall graph value) These knobs hold a value on every Graph in every GraphSet (2 knobs x 6 graphs x24 GraphSets) so you can use them without worry of affecting other GraphSets. There are dedicated VSTParameters (*Scratch base thru *Vol Scale) as well as MIDI CC's (CC#50-61) for these parameters . Use these for automation, as the visible knobs on the Lucifer interface are not set to automate in host, as they change based on which graph is showing (but you will notice the aforementioned Parameters set / move the knobs on the interface).

Normal mode and Pitch modeAt the bottom of the user interface, you will see either the phrase NORMAL MODE or PITCH MODE (as shown in the screen shot on the right). Simply clicking on the phrase changes the mode. Lucifer can be operated in one of two modes: Normal mode is the mode you should select for the majority of this manual. Pitch mode is dealt with towards the end in its own chapter. (If Lucifer is currently in Pitch mode, please change to Normal mode.)

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3.Synchronising Lucifer to the beatLucifer manipulates, in real-time, the audio that's fed into it. To do this, it has to constantly record that audio into an internal audio buffer. Lucifer is always cycling through this buffer, recording whatever audio is currently at its input to the location that it has reached in the buffer at that moment. Additionally, Lucifer is at the same time cycling through the various graphs that this plug-in offers. These graphs are each used to control a particular parameter over the course of a cycle within Lucifer. This control is achieved by the shape drawn on each graph.

The Cycle CursorThe Cycle Cursor shows where in the current cycle Lucifer is, and it is the thin vertical line that travels from left to right across the current graph:

Current Sync position (recording / graph location)

Current playback position (different from top if a repeat is held) see next page.

Lucifer is at the start of the current cycle when the Cycle Cursor is at the extreme left of the graph, and it is at the end of the current cycle when that cursor is at the extreme right position. The cycle (total graph length) can be either 1,2,4, or 8 bars in length as determined by the # Bars control on the right of the window. This is a global setting (applies to all graph sets).

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The Playback CursorThe Playback Cursor indicates how Lucifer is playing back the audio that's been recorded into the audio buffer:

When this cursor is at the extreme left position, Lucifer is playing back the audio that's at the start of the buffer. When this cursor is at the extreme right position, Lucifer is playing back the audio that's at the end of the buffer. As you start to use some of the more extreme playback effects that Lucifer offers, you'll see that the Playback Cursor can sometimes jump around frantically to locations all across the audio buffer.

Cycle Size (Bars)The size of a cycle within Lucifer, and so the size of the audio buffer, is set using the Bars parameter (see right). Lucifer is designed for manipulating music in 4/4 time, the time signature that most popular music uses. A bar in 4/4 time is four beats long. (For example, you can create a simple drum beat in 4/4 time by playing a kick drum on the first and third beats, and a snare drum on the second and fourth beats.) The Cycle Size setting dictates how many of these 4/4 bars a single cycle within Lucifer consists of. There are four possible settings: 1 bar, 2 bars, 4 bars and 8 bars. These choices are shown respectively by the numbers 1, 2, 4 and 8, with the selected size being the highlighted number. When you first create an instance of Lucifer in your host, this setting defaults to one bar; 1 is the highlighted number. With that setting, the audio buffer within Lucifer is sized to be one bar of 4/4 time in length, so Lucifer is manipulating one bar of audio information. Also, with that setting, the various graphs available represent the change of a particular parameter over the same one-bar period.

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These concepts of beats and bars only make sense if Lucifer is synchronised to the audio that you are passing through it. This synchronisation is an essential step toward using Lucifer.

Synchronising using the Sync buttonIf you are using Lucifer in a host audio application that passes tempo information to the plug-ins, then getting Lucifer synchronised with the host is easy - just make sure that the Sync button (shown here to the right) is lit up; press it if it isn't. The BPM Display next to this button should now be displaying the host's current tempo. When you start your host playing, you'll see some activity in the user interface: The Cycle Cursor will be scrolling across the graph. Notice that the time taken for this cursor to scroll across the graph is the same as the time taken for your host to play back the number of bars indicated by the current Cycle Size setting in Lucifer. The Playback Cursor will be similarly scrolling across the bottom of the graph, mirroring the movement of the Cycle Cursor. This indicates that the audio in the buffer is currently being played back exactly as it has been recorded there. This is because you have not yet started altering the playback of that audio. When you do, expect to see the Playback Cursor jumping around to reflect this change.

The BPM knob and the Tap Tempo note [C1]C1 A C2

If you are using a host that does not pass tempo information to the plug-ins, or you are using Lucifer to process live audio, then you'll need to make use of either the BPM knob or the Tap Tempo feature.

The BPM knob can be used to set a known tempo manually. (See the screen shot on the right for its location.) As an alternative, when the exact tempo of the audio being processed is not known, you can use the Tap Tempo note. This note is C1 on your MIDI keyboard. Start playing the audio that you're wanting to process, then begin tapping the note C1 in time to the beat. You should do this for several beats to get Lucifer synchronised closely to the audio. There is, however, an additional consideration when manually synchronising Lucifer. Earlier in this chapter, it was explained that Lucifer is always in a cycle. We don't just want to get Lucifer synchronised to the incoming audio, we also want to get it synchronised so that the first beat of a cycle within Lucifer coincides with the first beat of the equivalent cycle in that audio. We do this by ensuring that the last tap on the Tap Tempo note is that exact beat. You can do your tapping so that this last tap is the last of a string of taps you make to set the tempo, or you can tap to set the tempo, then do one final tap a bit after that on the beat you want the cycling to begin 17

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from. If you set the tempo using the BPM knob, you can then simply tap once on the Tap Tempo note at the appropriate point in the music to tell Lucifer where to begin its cycling from.

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4.Loop for lifeThe most important effect in Lucifer is the looping of the incoming audio. It is only by looping audio that many of the other available effects (e.g. the rows of knobs on both sides of the crossfader) can be brought into play. Before you start looping, please make sure that Lucifer is not currently in Incarn mode. This is indicated by the Incarn button being lit up, as it is in the screen shot to the right. If it is lit up like this, please click once on it to switch it off.

LoopThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

The black notes on the MIDI keyboard The NoteLock, which will enable a black note if none are currently playing (C#1 if Incarn on, G#1 if Incarn off)

When you play a black note on your MIDI keyboard, the chunk of audio at the current location in the cycle gets repeated for as long as you hold the note down. Notice that the Playback Cursor changes its motion. Before a black note is played, that cursor simply mirrors the movement of the Cycle cursor,since the audio in the audio buffer is being played back without any change. But by playing a black note, playback does change and the motion of the Playback cursor changes as well to reflect this. The different black notes trigger differently sized loops. The different possible sizes are mapped to the black notes over the two octave range:Two beats One beat Half beat Quarter beat (actual time values in 'simple' musical terms)

1 2

1 4

1 8

1 16

1 32

1 64

1 128

1 256

1 512

1 1024

C1

C2

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There's an important point to make about these loop sizes: in musical terms, they do not change if the Cycle Size (BARS) setting is changed. For example, regardless of the current Cycle Size setting, playing the note C#1 will produce a loop that is two beats in length (half-note) , and playing the note D#1 will produce a loop that is one beat in length (quarter-note). Additionally, you can utilise the black notes polyphonically. Try playing a black note, and then play another while still holding down that first note. The loop size changes to that of the second black note played. If you release just that second note, the loop size changes back to that of the first black note you're still playing. Lucifer's ability to maintain this rhythmic phase allows for realtime jamming on audio fragments without getting off beat! If you hold down a black note for a long time while you're playing audio that varies through Lucifer, you can hear for yourself how Lucifer works. Play the note D#1. This, as expected, causes the audio to begin looping, and the looping continues as long as you hold that note down. But listen to what happens each time the Cycle Cursor (on the graph) passes the looping Playback Cursor. The audio in the loop changes at that moment! The Cycle Cursor reflects the way the incoming audio is being recorded into the audio buffer, and at the moment the Cycle Cursor passes the Playback Cursor, the audio in the audio buffer which is currently being looped has just been overwritten. (There is a way of stopping this behaviour, to freeze the audio that's in the audio buffer so that it doesn't get overwritten. This freezing is achieved by activating the Lock feature - it's detailed later in this chapter.)

QUANTThe Quant button is used to select how Lucifer behaves when you play a black note. There are three possible behaviours, and by clicking on this button you can cycle between them. Wait When a black note is pressed, the note does not activate until the sync position is at a correct location . This wait boundry location is based on the time value of the black note you push. Free Looping begins the very moment you play a black note. Quant This behaviour is similar to Wait. However it acts more similar to a Quantize function on a MIDI sequencer. In other words keypushes can in a sense be moved early in time. In Quant, Lucifer assumes that the chunk of audio you wish to hear repeating is the chunk closest to the time of your key press. For example, imagine you wanted to loop a bit of a snare drum, but you got excited and anticpated the upcoming snare drum, and pushed the repeat key a little early. QUANT mode would know this, by knowing you are closer to the next time boundry than the current one. 20

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When using Lucifer, you will most likely have either the Wait or Quant option selected. Both of these result in looping that is synchronised to the beat. (The exception to this will probably be when you're using Lucifer in Pitch mode, when the Free setting is usually preferred.) Again, the Quant option has the advantage that if you happen to press a black note slightly too early (i.e. just before the chunk of audio you're wanting to loop), you will still get the desired loop. Experiment with both of these settings to see which best suits you. Lastly, it should be mentioned that the sound of the Length knob (described later) behaves intentionally different in FREE mode, where the knob becomes unrestricted by rhythmic divisions of the beat). If you want to appreciate these differences in looping for yourself, try the following: Set the Cycle Size to 1 (remember, that's a Cycle Size setting of one bar) and select the Free behaviour. Play the audio you are effecting through Lucifer, fix your eyes on the Playback Cursor and play the note C#1 on your MIDI keyboard. You'll see that as soon as you play that note, Lucifer jumps back two beats to begin looping (two beats being the loop size triggered by playing the note C#1). Now try the same thing but with Wait active. Since the current Cycle Size is one bar and the loop size being played (C#1) is two beats, then the audio buffer is being divided into two chunks, each two beats long. With Wait active, you'll see that Lucifer loops whichever of these two chunks playback is within at the moment you play the black note C#1. Lucifer waits until playback reaches the end of that particular chunk before jumping back to the start of the chunk and beginning to loop it. Finally, select the Quant behaviour and repeat the exercise. You'll see that if playback has reached a point within the first half of one of those two chunks, that is the chunk that gets looped. This is the same result as when Wait was selected. But if playback has reached a point within the second half of one of the chunks, it is the subsequent chunk that gets looped. When you're ready to continue, set the Cycle Size back to its default setting of 2 and make sure that the Wait mode is set to either Wait or Quant.

EndThe End feature is enabled by clicking on the word END; the word will light up red. Lucifer will now execute an 'all notes off' command at the end of each cycle. To see this for yourself, hold down a black note to create an audio loop. This looping will now stop when Lucifer reaches the end of the current cycle, even though you are still holding down the black note. This feature is particularly useful when you're using Lucifer to creating fill or climax effects, as it guarantees that audio playback will return to normal at the start 21

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of the next cycle. For a simple example of this feature, activate End and then, towards the end of a cycle, play the notes F#1, G#1 and A#1 in succession. This will create a climax effect that ceases the moment the current cycle ends.

NoteLockThis effect can be enabled by:C1 C2

clicking on The Lock MIDI note [F1]. The related NoteLock Knob (directly above the lock).

At any time when you're playing a black note, try tapping the note F1 on your MIDI keyboard. What you'll find is that you can now release that black note and Lucifer will continue to loop. Notice also the Lock symbol in the Lucifer user interface (see right) lights up when you play that note; you can also click directly on that Lock symbol to activate the 'lock'. When you tap the Lock note again, normal playback resumes. While Lock active, you can play different black notes, white effect notes and twist the knobs to change the sound of the audio within the loop, all while looping continues. Critically, with Lock active, Lucifer's audio buffer is frozen. As described in the previous chapter, Lucifer is normally constantly writing the incoming audio to the audio buffer, but while Lock is active this refreshing doesn't take place. You can freeze a particular loop of audio for as long as you like, freely using the controls on the plug-in to change that loop's sound. New in Lucifer 2.0, now if no notes are playing and/or you click on the lock, the default repeat time is enabled. This auto-enabled repeat note is either C#1 (snaps each repeat duration to segment's length on the scratch graph) if Incarn switch is on, or G#1 (16th notes) if Incarn switch is off . When black notes are being played and Lock is active, the Tap Tempo note (discussed on page 17) takes on an additional role. Tapping it resets the timing of the looping audio, so that the loop moves in time (but the loop size remains the same). This is a useful feature when Lucifer is not being synchronised to the host audio application, for example when you're processing live audio. In that situation, a locked loop of audio could begin to drift in time. Tapping the Tap Tempo note at the appropriate moment will get that locked loop back in time.

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BuffersNew to Lucifer 2.0 is the buffer selector. Lucifer has 4 stereo 32-bit buffers which can each hold different audio loops. These loops can either be loaded WAV files, or audio captured via the MIX button/Input Lock (described next). The 1-2-3-4 control also changes the graph's line color to match the active buffer color (as extra visual feedback).

Input LockThe Input Lock allows you to view and optionally set the input lock. This control when enabled stops Lucifer from recording the audio input. The result is you see and hear a captured loop. You may be tempted to click on it, but the MIX button is a better way to capture loops (see next control). You can also click the input lock to deactivate a loaded WAV file in the current Buffer (it will no longer save in host).

Mix ButtonThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

Userkey notes (see left). Clicking on it (see right).

Lucifer is always recording its own output, which you can capture with this button! Clicking the MIX button will automatically enage the input lock at the end of the cycle to give you a captured loop exactly spanning that cycle in time. There are several instances where this can be useful. There are four different capture choices, which you can select on the UserKey menus, or by using modifier keys while clicking on the Mix Button:

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NameMix Mix to Background Mix and Overdub Mix Next Cycle Mix Prev Cycle

Menu NameMix Mix->BG(shft) Mix+OD(alt) MixNext(RtClik) (not available)

Key PCClick (on MIX) Shift-Click Alt-Click RightClick Alt-RightClick

Key OSXClick (on MIX) Shift-Click Option-Click Ctrl-Click Option-Ctrl-Click

Mix Regular function Pretend for a moment you have an active audio input (music track, instrument, etc). You hear something good happen and wish to be able to loop and/or manipulate it. If it is within the current cycle, you can click the Mix button, and the Mix button will illuminate for the rest of the cycle, indicating capture is underway. Lucifer will now start playing this captured cycle instead of the audio input (notice the control on the left side of the Crossfader switch from 'dry' to 'buffer'). Mix to BG There may be circumstances where you do not wish Lucifer to interrupt the live audio input, you can shift-click on the mix button (Mix to BG). This will leave the left side of the crossfader alone (dry) so you will only hear the captured audio if you activate a repeat (black note / NoteLock). Mix Previous Cycle (Alt-RightClick) but what if I hear something cool happen, but by the time I think to capture it, Lucifer is already in the next cycle?? This can happen, you hear an interesting sound but the cycle is now ending/over! If this happens, don't worry, you can still access it with nimble fingers and a sharp memory! Alt-RightClick on the Mix button (option-ctrl-click MAC OSX) and Lucifer will grab the previous cycle and Lock it, even though you thought it was gone! Mix Next Cycle This is like the normal MIX function, except delayed to start at the next cycle. Imagine you are already jamming about using Lucifer to manipulate something (perhaps you loaded an audio loop into Lucifer, or already used Mix). Now you realize you want to commit what Lucifer is doing to it for a cycle length (1-2-4-8 bars - perhaps to export to a WAV with the Save button) But imagine part of what you are doing is performing on Lucifer, so thus you need time to get your hands ready on the MIDI keyboard. In this case, You simply Right-Click on Mix (ctrl-click on OSX) and it will start the capture on the next pass (MIX will not illuminate until the start of the next cycle, and will remain illumiated for that cycle as the capture is taking place). Mix + Overdub (Alt-Click) This is intended for a sound-on-sound type of manipulation. Probably the last of the Mix options to try and make sense of. Using this feature activates the 'Mix to BG' 24

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function mentioned on the previous page, but the scratch (incarn) graph is also reset.

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5.The Loop position modifiersWhen you're looping audio, there are several effects and controls available that can alter the position and size of the loop.

GrooveThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

Userkey notes (see left). X-Y controller menus. The Groove knob. (See right.)

Groove affects the timing of the repeats when you play the black notes. A percentage shift is made to every second repeat, creating a swing effect. The further the Groove knob is turned to the right, the greater the shift. The Groove assignable note applies a full swing effect.

SpreadThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

Userkey notes (see left). X-Y controller menus. The Spread knob. (See right.)

Normally, the looping triggered by the playing of the black notes results in the repetition of a single chunk of the audio buffer. But by applying the Spread effect, you can cause each repetition to begin at earlier or later point than the last. First try setting the Spread knob to the 12 o'clock position. If you play a black note, you should hear no looping at all! This is because Lucifer is shifting the start point for each repetition of the loop forwards by the size of the loop, with the result being that no section of the audio buffer gets repeated. Now turn the Spread knob a little to the left and watch the Playback Cursor. It is moving back in time, because the start point for each repetition is being shifted backwards. Similarly, turning the Spread knob to the right of the 12 o'clock position resulting in the start point for each repetition being shifted forwards, and the motion of the Playback cursor reflects this. 26

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This shift backwards or forwards is done in multiples of the loop size of the black note that you're playing, which makes the Spread effect a simple way to create drum loop variations. When doing this, try varying the position of the Spread knob and the particular black note that you play. The behaviour of the Spread effect when the Spread knob is in the 12 o'clock position can be put to very good use. Some of Lucifer's effects, like Hyper and Reverse, can only be heard when you're looping audio. Ordinarily, that would mean you cannot have unchanged audio playback at the same time as applying these effects. But by using Lucifer with the Spread knob in the 12 o'clock position, you can have your cake and eat it!

MicroSpreadThis effect can be accessed by:

The MicroSpread knob. (See right.) X-Y controller menus.

The MicroSpread knob behaves in a similar way to the Spread knob. With that latter knob, the further it is turned to the left or to the right, the further playback is shifted earlier or later within the audio buffer. This shifting occurs in multiples of the particular black note being played. The MicroSpread knob also allows for playback to be shifted earlier or later, but it shifts in fractions of the particular black note being played. While the Spread knob is great for creating rhythmic variations, the MicroSpread knob is ideal for timestretch effects, either on its own or in conjunction with the Spread knob. Example 1: Set the MicroSpread knob to the 12 o'clock position and play and hold the note C#2. Now move the MicroSpread knob slowly to the left. The loop will begin to slowly scrub backwards in time, with the Playback Cursor illustrating this movement. Also try moving the MicroSpread knob to the right. The loop slowly scrubs forwards, with the speed picking up as the knob is turned further to the right. Example 2: For a different way of timestretching the audio, set both the Spread and MicroSpread knobs to the 12 o'clock position, then play a black note (say, G#1). Now move the MicroSpread knob slowly to the left. When Incarn mode is on, MicroSpread serves the same function technically, but is useful instead for nudging the playback repeats slightly earlier or late. This can be useful in very small amounts (e.g. -2%) if a captured/loaded loop is slightly ahead of the beat and you are hearing clicky/choppy relocation points.

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BounceThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

UserKeys or MIDI [A1] (see left). X-Y controller menus. The Bounce knob. (See right.)

The Bounce effect simulates the effect of bouncing the audio as if it were a bouncing ball. The result of adding this effect and playing the black notes is loops that progressively decrease in size until they are tiny, at which point the loop size returns to normal and the process begins all over again. When using the Bounce knob, you are controlling the time over which the bounce occurs; the further to the right the knob is turned, the quicker the bounce. So if you want a longer, more obvious 'bouncing ball', keep this knob set relatively low. When you play the Bounce note [A1] on your MIDI keyboard, you can see the Bounce knob turn hard right. As this would suggest, the effect triggered by playing the Bounce note is a quick bounce. There's one more detail about the Bounce knob to be aware of: at both the 12 o'clock (fifty per cent) and the full right (one hundred per cent) settings, each bounce overall will be synchronised to the beat.

DottedThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

The Dotted note [E1].

The Dotted note modifies the length of the loop size on each black note. Playing the note E1 on your MIDI keyboard at the same time as playing a black note will result in the loop size for that black note increasing by 50 per cent.

TripletThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

The Triplet note [D1].

The Triplet note is used to modify the length of the loop size on each black note. Playing the note D1 on your MIDI keyboard at the same time as playing a black note will result in the loop size for that black note increasing by 33 per cent.

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6.The Loop sound modifiersThere are several effects available that can change the sound of the audio within the loop.

GateThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

UserKeys or MIDI [A1] (see left). X-Y Controller Menus. The Gate knob. (see right.)

The Gate knob applies a gating effect to a percentage of the audio; the further this knob is turned to the right, the greater that percentage. If this knob is set to the hard left position, the Gate effect is switched off. This effect is very useful for creating severe, glitch-type effects, plus it is often an important addition when using the Scratch effect.

Gate DecayThe Gate Decay knob alters the decay time of the Gate effect. By turning this knob to the left the decay time is increased, and to the right, decreased. To hear the effect of using this Gate Decay knob, the Gate effect must be active (the Gate knob must not be in the hard left position).

For more organic glitch and scratch effects, try setting the Gate knob near to its maximum, then jam around with the Gate Decay knob as you play the black notes.

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Length KnobThis effect can be accessed by:

X-Y Controller Menus. The Length knob. (See right.)

The Length effect results in the looping audio repeat time to shorten or lengthen . This is similar to the Bounce effect (described on page 25) but it holds a fixed value (instead of shortening/lengthening each time). Note that this effect is fairly different if the WAIT switch is set to FREE (instead of QUANT or WAIT). In FREE, the Length knob 'directly' changes the repeat length, whereas in WAIT/QUANT, the length value is quantized to fixed time divisions of the original repeat length.

BlendThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

Assigning BLEND to one of the Assignable MIDI notes. The Blend knob. (See right.)

If the Blend effect is added when looping, the audio in the loop becomes somewhat blurred. (The exact mechanics of this are that a synchronised crossfade is applied between forward and reverse playing of the audio). Be aware that the result of adding Blend will not always be apparent, as it depends what other effects are active at the same time. This is a useful effect if you wish to remove the transients in the loop for a soft, sustaining sound. Try using this effect in conjunction with the Ping Pong note.

ReverseThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

The Reverse note [G1]. The Reverse knob. (See right.)

Playing the Reverse note when playing the black notes will result in the looping audio being played in reverse. Notice that when you play the Reverse note, the Reverse knob jumps to the right. Now try moving this Reverse knob with your mouse while you're playing the black notes. By doing this you can vary the pitch of the audio in the loop. Up to the 12 o'clock position for that knob, the audio plays forwards at a progressively lower 30

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pitch. Beyond the 12 o'clock position, the audio plays backwards at a low pitch, with the pitch increasing as you continue to turn the knob to the right. In the full right position, the audio will be played back in reverse at the original pitch. Also, by twisting the Reverse knob backwards and forwards, a scratching effect can be produced.

AttackThis effect can be accessed by:

The Attack knob. (See right.)

Attack is used to fade in the looping effect produced when you play the black notes. The further the Attack knob is turned to the right, the longer the fade-in takes.

ReleaseThis effect can be accessed by:

The Release knob. (See right.)

Release knob has a similar effect to Attack, but it acts on the audio when you release the black notes. Rather than the looping effect ceasing immediately when all black notes are released, the looping audio will gradually fade away. The further the Release knob is turned to the right, the longer the fade-out takes.

HyperThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

Assigning HYPER 50/100 to one of the Assignable notes. The Hyper knob. (See right.)

Hyper combines filtering and playback of the audio at higher speeds. The looping audio is played back at regular speed, at two times speed and at four times speed. The regular speed audio is low-pass filtered, the two times speed audio is band-pass filtered and the four times speed audio is high-pass filtered. The result is then passed through another filter, and it is the cut-off frequency of that final filter that the Hyper effect controls influence. With the Hyper knob, the cut-off frequency of that final filter falls as it is turned to the right. The Hyper knob has the advantage of being able to be swept around for a dynamic effect. With the Hyper note, a particular frequency for that final filter is selected.

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Ping PongThis effect can be accessed by:C1 C2

The Ping Pong note [B1].

Try holding down the note B1 on your MIDI keyboard as you play the black notes. If you listen carefully, you should hear that the effect of holding down this Ping Pong note is to cause the audio in the loop to alternate between being played forwards and being played in reverse. Try the following for a Ping Pong example. Add a little bit of Spread and set the Blend knob to full. Now play a black note (maybe F#1) whilst holding down the Ping Pong note. You'll find with a little experimentation that Blend is a useful effect to use in combination with the Ping Pong note.

Pitch ChangeThis effect can be accessed by:

The Pitch Change notes [C3 to C5]. The Pitch Change slider, located directly above the lowest two octaves of MIDI notes displayed in Lucifer.)

By playing the Pitch Change notes, the pitch of the audio in the loop can be altered. Playing the note C4 results in no change in pitch. Playing the note C5 results in the pitch of the audio rising by an octave. Playing the note C3 results in the pitch of the audio being lower by an octave. Between these two extremes, the pitch of the audio can be altered in semitone intervals. In addition to playing those notes, the same effect can be achieved in the Lucifer user interface by adjusting the Pitch Change slider. This slider is a little red indicator located just above the keyboard graphic. It indicates the current pitch of the audio, and it can be clicked on with the mouse and dragged to a new position to change that pitch. If this indicator is over the second C note, or it is at the 'off' position (just to the left of the lowest note in the keyboard graphic), no pitch change occurs. Another important control of the pitch of the audio in the loop is the Pitch* option for the FX effect. (See page 44 for the details.)

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7.Getting graphicThe graphs allow for the dynamic control of an effect over the course of a cycle within Lucifer. Later chapters in this manual will examine specific graphs in detail, but there are a number of controls that relate to all of the available graphs, and these are now discussed here.

The Twenty-Four GraphSetsIn earlier chapters, it was mentioned that there are several individual graphs available, with the Graph Selector tabs being used to select which one of these is to be the graph that's currently displayed. Looking at the tabs, you can see that the available graphs are 'Scratch', 'Effects', 'Freq', 'Reso' (Resonance), 'Pan' and 'Volume'. (As you'll discover later, there are also another graph available, called 'VOL>XF'.) As a whole, these graphs and parameters deemed related (see inset below) are referred to as a graph set. There are twenty-four of these graph sets within Lucifer, accessed from the GraphSet Keys. You can set up a particular combination of effects within each graph set, and then switch between them to achieve some radical variations in timbre and audio buffer playback. The following parameters store in a GraphSet: All graphs, their associated Grid Quantize, Range, and Smooth knobs, AutoRandom status, and MIDI Out CC Assignments. All paramerters directly below the graph selector buttons (Pre/Post, Effects Switch, Effect Menu item, Filter II switch and type, Vol/Pan). Output Selector (1-2-3-4). Buffer Selector (1-2-3-4).

GraphSet KeysThe graph sets can be selected by:C3 C4

The GraphSet notes via MIDI [C3] - [B4] . The GraphSet keys on the interface (top two octaves)

Selecting a GraphSet permanently selects that GraphSet until you select another. 33

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Only one can be selected at a time, it is the current GraphSet. You may copy a graphset to another with shift-copy (select destination, paste). You may copy graphset #1 (C3) to all GraphSets (alt-click copy, click paste).

Grid QuantizeGrid Quantize sets the resolution that will be used when drawing on the current graph. The larger the Grid Quantize value, the finer the resolution. The Grid Quantize setting is individual to each graph in each graph set. Also, changing the Grid Quantize value for a graph often changes the shape on that graph. If you've got a graph just how you want it, don't change its Grid Quantize value! The exact note value of the quantize resolution depends on the Cycle Size setting. For example, if the Grid Quantize value is 4 and the Cycle Size is 2, then the resolution for that quantize setting will equal 2 bars divided by 4, which is 2 beats. If the Cycle Size is 4, with the Grid Quantize setting remaining as 4, then the actual resolution of that quantize setting will equal 4 bars divided by 4, which is 1 bar.

SmoothThe Smooth knob controls the amount of smoothing that is applied to the currently displayed graph. If this knob is set to the hard left position, no smoothing is applied and the stepping in the shape on the graph is accurately applied. To smooth this stepping out, you can turn this knob to the right. The best way to demonstrate the effect of Smooth is to make use of the Volume graph. Select that graph and set its Grid Quantize value to 8. (Also check that the Cycle Size is set to 2.) Then draw a shape on it that alternates between high volume and low volume (top and bottom), like so:

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Lucifer User ManualHigh volume

Low volume

Make sure that the Smooth knob is turned hard left and play some audio through Lucifer. You should hear that the audio is chopping between sounding very loud and silence. Now, slowly turn the Smooth knob to the 11 o'clock position, listening as you do so. You should hear that the audio continues to transition from silence to full volume instantly, but the transition from full volume to silence no longer occurs instantly. Instead, it fades away gradually. If you now turn the Smooth knob to the 12 o'clock position, and continue slowly turning it to the right from there, you'll hear another change to the audio. Now both transitions (from silence to full volume and from full volume to silence) occur somewhat gradually. If you wish to just smooth the decays of the shapes you create, set the Smooth knob to a position within the first half of its travel. If you wish to smooth the entire shape on the graph, set the Smooth knob to a position with the second half of its travel.

GatePressing the Gate button results in the shape on the current graph getting gated, with every second value (according to the current Grid Quantize setting) being set to the minimum value.

PeakPressing the Peak button results in Lucifer drawing a shape on the current graph that mirrors the volume of the dry audio being input. This is an easy way to create envelope follower effects that track the volume of the audio being processed.

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The ArrowsThe Arrows allow you to move the shape on the graph up, down, left and right. Notice that the shape wraps around. For example, if you keep pressing the 'up' arrow, when the top of the shape reaches the top of the graph, it wraps around to appear at the bottom of the graph.

The Arrow modifiersThe Arrows have additional functions which allow you to alter the shape on the current graph in useful ways:

To VERTICALLY EXPAND the shape: (The centre for the expansion is the centre of the graph.) To VERTICALLY COMPRESS the shape: (The centre for the compression is the centre of the graph.) To create a HALF-TIME version: (The first half of the shape is stretched over the whole of the graph.) To create a DOUBLE TIME version: (The shape on the graph is doubled in time and duplicated.) Shift Shift Shift Shift

+ + + +or or or or

PCTo INVERT the shape:

Right-click Ctrl

MAC PCTo REVERSE the shape:

+ +

Right-click Ctrl

MAC

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The ability to create half-time or double-time versions of the shapes on the graphs is particularly useful when you've changed the Cycle Size setting.

Copy and PasteClicking the Copy button stores the shape on the current graph to the copy buffer. When you later wish to paste that shape onto a graph, click on the Paste button. Also, by [Shift]-clicking on the Paste button, you create a very useful sine wave shape on the graph.

RandThe Rand button creates a random shape on the current graph. The shape is created using the current Grid Quantize setting for that graph. [Shift]-clicking on the Rand button will create a random gated shape.

Pos ChaseThis effect can be accessed by:C1 A A C2

Assigning POS CHASE to one of the Assignable notes.

The point about the graph-related effects is that their sound can be varied over the course of the cycle according to the shapes that you draw on them. Sometimes, though, you may wish to freeze the current effects, so that there is no dynamic changes in their sound. For these occasions, Lucifer offers the Pos Chase facility. Assign this to one of the Assignable notes, then play that note when you want to freeze the effect sound.

Drawing with MIDI Continuous Controller #98 (or GraphRecorder VSTparameter)You can use MIDI Continuous Controller #98 (or the VSTparameter named 'GraphRecorder') to draw shapes onto the currently selected graph. Set up a MIDI controller (like a modulation wheel or a MIDI control knob) to transmit MIDI CC #98. This controller will send values to Lucifer while it is being moved. The exact values it sends depends on its position. Each value sent results in Lucifer redrawing the step on the graph that has been reached at that moment. How high or low it redraws this step depends on the exact value of the CC message received. 37

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This parameter has a fairly quick timeout, so that it won't draw over existing data you may want to keep. The sideffect of this timeout is, if you wish to draw slow motions, you may need to wiggle your MIDI controller value slightly when you are trying to draw flat.

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8.Volume and PanEach of the four graph sets includes a Volume graph and a Pan graph.

Volume & Pan On/Off buttonThis button switches the Volume and Pan graphs for the current graph set on or off. It is also possible to control this button using your MIDI keyboard. Simply assign either the VOL/PAN m (momentary) or the VOL/PAN t (toggle) option to one of the Assignable notes.

Volume graphThis graph controls the volume of the effected audio. The higher up the graph you draw your shape, the louder the audio becomes; the lower that shape, the quieter the audio becomes. The default shape for this graph (no volume change) is a

Default shape

horizontal line, three-quarters of the way up:

Pan graphThis graph controls the panning of the effected audio. Drawing in the top half of the graph pans the audio to the left, while drawing in the bottom half pans the audio to the right:

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Left

Default shape

Right

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9.Filter IILucifer includes an additional multi-mode filter, with control over the cut-off frequency and the resonance amount. The settings for this filter are particular to each graph set, so simply by clicking on the Graph Set buttons or by playing the Graph Set notes, you can switch between different filter effects. This filter can be used in conjunction with the Effects menu effect- however keep in mind that if you are selecting a 3-parameter effect from the Effect menu (Moog thru Reverb), the FREQ and RESO graphs are controlling both effects simultaneously.

Filter II On/Off buttonThe current graph set's filter effect is only heard if its Filter On/Off button is pressed in. This is indicated by the button lighting up. It is also possible to control this button using your MIDI keyboard. Simply assign either the FILT m (momentary) or the FILT t (toggle) option to one of the Assignable notes.

Filter II TypeThe type of filter can be changed for each graph set using the Filter Type buttons. There are four buttons to select from, with the currently selected Filter Type being the highlighted one. The four available types are Low-pass, Band-pass, High-pass and Notch.

Filter II graphsThere are two graphs that together control the filter effect: The FILTER graph controls the cut-off frequency of the filter. To raise the cut-off frequency, draw a shape that ascends the graph. To lower the cut-off frequency, draw a shape that descends the graph. The RESO graph controls the resonance amount. Resonance is a level boost applied at the cut-off frequency. The frequencies around that cut-off point become more pronounced, at the expense of frequencies further away. It is a useful effect if 41

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you wish to exaggerate any filter sweeps made using the Freq graph. The higher the shape you create on this graph, the greater the resonance amount that's applied. If you create a shape on this graph that runs only along the bottom, minimal resonance will be applied (assuming the Base knob for this graph is kept at its default minimum value).

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10.The EFFECTS sectionEach of the 24 graph sets includes a selectable FX effect. Control for the chosen FX effect is achieved by drawing shapes on the FX graph.

EFFECTS graph On/Off buttonThis button switches the FX effect on and off. It is also possible to control this button using your MIDI keyboard. Simply assign either the FX m (momentary) or FX t (toggle) option to one of the Assignable notes.

EFFECTS graph Pre/Post buttonThis button controls the order of the effects processing within Lucifer. If 'pre' is selected, the Distortion effect is located before the Filter; if 'post' is selected, the Distortion effect is located after the Filter. The default choice for this setting is 'pre', which results in the same effects order as found in previous versions of Lucifer.

EFFECTS graph Effect TypeClicking on this setting opens a pop-up menu, allowing you to select which of the available FX types is to be the active one in the current graph set, and so which effect the shape on the FX graph controls. There are four groups to these menu effects: DM DISTORT thru phaser (first 18 on the menu) Simple FX (only one parameter they use just the Effects graph). These FX are pre/post switch capable. GATE* thru OUTPUT* (next 9) These also just use the Effects graph. However these control existing parameters. MIDI CC and MIDI CC LAT These make all 6 graphs output a MIDI cc (for controlling other plugins or external hardware), shown to the right of the graph. MIDI Note is an option at the top of the MIDI out list. Moog 6 thru Reverb These are the Vellocet DSP effects, a nice suite of effects which use 3 graphs (Effects, Freq, Reso) to control 3 parameters of the effect. 43

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The FX effects available are as follows: DM DISTORT BITCRUSH RESAMPLE SIMPLE HPF SHAPERS 1 to 4 MICROGATE The distortion type found in previous versions of Lucifer. Reduces the word length of the audio. Reduces the sample frequency of the audio. A regular high-pass filter. Good to use when Band-pass is the selected Filter Type in the current graph set. Dynamic multishapers which morph between various waveshaping functions depending on the audio level. The shape you create on the graph is the threshold for this Microgate. If the level of the audio exceeds that threshold, it is passed. If it does not exceed it, it is muted. This is great for giving your audio a really crunchy texture.

SUB/MID/HI RING These all bring a ring modulator into play. The difference between the types is the frequency of the carrier signal for the effect. (The audio you input into Lucifer acts as the modulator signal.) FOLDBACK The audio waveform gets inverted (i.e. folded back) above a threshold. The higher the shape on the graph, the greater the foldback amount. A distortion type. A distortion type. A distortion type. A special lofi effect. A distortion type. The FX graph controls the Gate knob. The FX graph controls the Hyper knob. The FX graph controls the Reverse knob. The FX graph controls the Pitch change. The FX graph controls the Spread knob. The FX graph controls the MicroSpread knob. The FX graph controls the Scratch knob. The FX graph controls which audiobuffer plays (1-2-3-4). The FX graph controls which stereo output is active (1-2-3-4). All 6 graphs will output MIDI CC's based on the value at right. Same as MIDI CC's, except graph output will follow playback (repeat notes). 44

TRANSISTOR ASYMETRIC HARD CLIP SP LOFI HARD CLIP GATE * HYPER * REVERSE * PITCH* SPREAD * MICROSPRD* SCRATCH * BUFFER* OUTPUT* MIDI CCs MIDI CCs LAT

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The FX effects with the star (*) symbol after their name all result in the FX graph controlling the amount of another effect. For example, the Gate* FX option gives you control over the Gate knob, and when this is done the Gate knob can be seen to move according to the shape on the FX graph. The next 97 effects after MIDI CCs LAT are the 3-param FX, which use the EFFECTS, FREQ, and RESO graphs to manipulate 3 separate effect parameters. On the following page is a grouped list of the next 97 Effects to follow on the Effects menu, from Moog6 to Reverb, and the destination DSP parameter which the three graphs will alter for the given effect.

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Parameter List for the 3-Parameter Effects - (Moog6 to Reverb on Effects Menu) EFFECT GROUP Moog 6/12/18/24 Low 6/12/18/24 High 6/12/18/24 Band/Peak/Notch LH/LB/LP/LN/HB/HP /HN/BP/BN/ PP/PN/NN (unlinked) Same as above (but with Link) LBH/LPH/LNH/BPN CombL /FlangeL / PhaseL EFFECTS graph Fat amount Fat amount Fat amount Fat amount Cutoff Frequency 2 (for the 2nd of the two filters) FREQ graph Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency Reso graph Resonance Resonance Resonance Resonance Resonance

Stereo Separation

Cutoff Frequency

Resonance

Morph LowPass (feedback filter) Frequency HighPass (feedback filter) Frequency HL Width (band separation) dB Gain Damping

Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency

Resonance Resonance (Feedback)

CombH /FlangeH / PhaseH

Cutoff Frequency

Resonance (Feedback)

CombHL / Flange HL / Phase HL EQ Combs/Allpasses/ Reverb

Cutoff Frequency

Resonance (Feedback) 'Q' Resonance (Feedback)

Frequency Freq. (Size)

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Scratching and the Scratch graphThe Scratch effect simulates the scratching of the audio in the loop, as occurs when scratching a record. The result depends on the audio in the loop, the shape on the Scratch graph, the settings on the Scratch, Smooth and Gate knobs, and exactly which black notes you play. Generally speaking, the notes D#1, F#1, G#1 and A#1 will give the best results, with the Triplet and Dotted notes being useful additions.

Scratch knobThe Scratch knob can be used to both control the amount of Scratch effect that's applied to the audio in the loop, and to actually scratch the audio. In its default, hard left position, no Scratch effect will be added.

How to scratchThere are two basic approaches to scratching audio in Lucifer: Draw a simple shape on the Scratch graph and manipulate the Scratch knob live to create the scratching sounds. The best shape to draw on the Scratch graph for this purpose is probably the following:

A good shape to use

Alternatively, set the Scratch knob to a fixed position (for example, the hard right position) and draw a shape on the Scratch graph that frequently crosses the centre line of the graph. An example of such a shape is the following:

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Experiment with the amount of smoothing (start by setting that knob to around the 10 o'clock position), and also experiment with the exact setting for the Scratch knob. For both approaches, adding some Gate effect with a steep Gate Decay is usually an important addition if you wish to simulate a turntabilist!

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Lucifer User Manual

11.The Incarn effectActivating the Incarn effectThe Incarn effect for the current graph set is activated by pressing the Incarn button. It is also possible to control this button using your MIDI keyboard. Simply assign the INCARN sw option to one of the Assignable notes.

Explaining the effectThe Incarn effect involves using a graph to directly control playback of the audio in Lucifer's audio buffer. Rather than having its own dedicated graph, the Incarn effect shares a graph with the Scratch effect. Normally, the Scratch graph is used to control the Scratch effect. But when the Incarn button is pressed, the Scratch graph controls the Incarn effect instead. You'll see that pressing the Incarn button results in the shape on the graph changing from having flat tops on each step to having sloping tops. The default shape for the Incarn graph is a straight line drawn from the bottom left corner of the graph to the top right corner, as in the following screen shot:

Please draw this shape on the graph. (Make sure that the Cycle Size is set to 2 and use a Grid Quantize value of 16.) There are a few shortcuts to draw this shape. One is the shape menu found on the right (just to the right of the arrow buttons). Another is to click the Incarn Record switch TWICE (R button adjacent to the Incarn switch). 49

Lucifer User Manual

The Incarn effect involves using the graph to control which part of Lucifer's audio buffer is played back at any point in the current cycle. The vertical axis of the Incarn graph represents the audio buffer. The range of values runs from the start of the buffer at the bottom of the axis to the end of the buffer at the top. The horizontal axis represents time, specifically, time within the current cycle. The range of values runs from the start of the cycle at the left of the axis to the end of the cycle at the right. The following diagram illustrates this:End of buffer

Position in audio buffer

Start of buffer Start of Cycle Cycle time End of Cycle

So how should you read the shape on this graph? Think of it like this:

1) At this point in the cycle... 2) play this part of the audio buffer.

With the default shape drawn on the Incarn graph, the audio gets played back exactly as it has been recorded into the audio buffer. In other words, nothing changes. It's only by changing the shape on the graph from that default diagonal line that the playback of the audio in the audio buffer gets altered. Check it for yourself. First, make sure no Smooth is being applied to this graph (the Smooth knob should be set to the hard left position), then hold down the note F#1 while you play audio through Lucifer. You should hear no change to that audio.

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Let's make a change to the shape to reinforce the understanding. If the following change were made...

what would the result be? Answer: Lucifer would play the first half of the audio buffer twice within each cycle. Halfway through each cycle, the shape would tell Lucifer to jump back to the start of the audio buffer and continue playback for the rest of the current cycle from that position. So the audio in the second half of the buffer would never get played! Notice that by watching the Playback Cursor, you can see this jump occurring. Here's another example:

With this shape on the graph, the audio in the second half of the audio buffer gets played first, followed by the audio from the first half of the buffer. If you have ever used Devine Machine - it's another great audio software creation by Devine Machine LLC - you'll recognise that this description is correct for the Incarn graph found in that particular program. Lucifer's Incarn graph behaves in a similar way but there is a very important difference: in Lucifer, the effect of the Incarn graph is heard only by playing the black notes (clicking the noteLock will latch one for 51

Lucifer User Manual

you). Playing the black notes in Lucifer means playing loops, so the exact result of a shape you draw on the Incarn graph depends on what black note is currently being used to play Lucifer with. This can be simply illustrated. Create the following shape on the Incarn graph:

Use a Grid Quantize value of 16. Make sure that the Scratch Smooth knob is set to the hard left position and that the Cycle Size is 2. Try playing the note F#1. You'll hear a nice repeating effect. Looking at the shape on the graph, that's probably what you'd expect to hear. (Every quarter note, an eighth note chunk of audio is being played twice.) But now try playing the note D#1. Cue much surprise, as the audio plays back with no change at all! When you play loops with the Incarn graph active, Lucifer is checking at the start of every loop at what position in the audio buffer it should begin playing this next loop from. Before the end of each loop is reached, while the body of the loop is playing, the playback position in the audio buffer for that loop does not change. What this means is that if there are changes in the shape of the Incarn graph between these positions that are being checked, the effect of those changes will not be heard. This is exactly what happened when playing the note D#1 in the last example. It was only by playing a shorter loop size (the note F#1) that the exact effect of the stepped shape on the graph was heard. Try now playing even shorter loop sizes, such as the notes G#1 and A#1. You'll hear a different effect again. The loop size is small enough to reflect the stepped shape on the graph, but the result differs from playing the note F#1. There's a few important points to make here: For the stepped shape that was created, the note F#1 was the optimum loop note to play; it followed the shape on the graph exactly. Playing a longer loop note than the optimum resulted in the shape not being followed exactly. The optimum loop note to play for a graph shape on the Incarn graph depends on the current Grid Quantize value and on the current Cycle Size setting. Try altering the Cycle Size to 1 for the stepped shape that was previously created and play the note F#1 again. This time - no change! With this Cycle Size change, the optimum loop size to play has changed to a smaller one, the note G#1. 52

Lucifer User Manual

Because it can be difficult to remember which is the optimum loop size to play for the current graph (since it depends on the Grid Quantize and Cycle Size settings), Lucifer offers a helping hand. When the Incarn graph is active, playing the note C#1 will always result in looping at this optimum loop size. If you're interested in knowing what the optimum loop size note is for a particular Cycle Size and Grid Quantize settings, check the following table: Cycle Size = 1 GQ 8 = F#1 GQ 16 = G#1 GQ 32 = A#1 GQ 64 = C#2 Cycle Size = 2 GQ 8 = D#1 GQ 16 = F#1 GQ 32 = G#1 GQ 64 = A#2 Cycle Size = 4 GQ 8 = C#1 GQ 16 = D#1 GQ 32 = F#1 GQ 64 = G#2

While the optimum loop size note is probably going to be the one you play the most when the Incarn graph is active, the other loop sizes can still produce good results. Be sure to try the alternatives!

Smoothing the Incarn graphLike all the graphs, the Incarn graph has a Smooth knob setting. With no smoothing applied, playback of the shape on the Incarn graph will be as precise as it can be. To see the result of adding Smooth to the Incarn graph, create a shape on that graph that jumps position a lot. Add some Smooth and watch the Playback Cursor carefully as you play the black notes. Notice that the cursor takes its time now to make those jumps, sliding around instead of quickly changing position. That sliding can sound very good when you're playing fast repeats on the black notes. See page 34 for additional information about the Smooth knob.

Incarn SpreadThe result of adding Spread differs when the Incarn graph is active. The Spread knob and the Spread note do not shift the loop start position, but instead offset the whole shape on the Incarn graph in time. This offset is equivalent to using the left and right Arrows to move the shape on the graph sideways.

Random IncarnThere is a world of fun to be had by setting the Smooth knob to the hard left position (no smoothing), clicking on the Rand button and playing the result using the optimum loop size note. In this way, totally new feels can be imposed on drum loops. (Using the Lock feature - see page 22 - while you're doing this saves having to keep the 53

Lucifer User Manual

optimum loop size note held down.) Experiment with the Grid Quantize value to see which gives the best results for the current Cycle Size setting. Also be sure to try AutoRandom, by alt(option)-clicking on the RAND switch! If you alt-click steps on the graph, you can prevent these steps from randomizing! ...The Lucifer programmer says:Slightly related, this my personal favorite new pasttime to get 3-8 Lucifers running at once all slightly improvising, by loading an audio loop (LOAD button), enabling the NoteLock, enabling AutoRandom, and Locking a bunch of graph steps (alt-clicking on the diagonal steps on the scratch graph). Try various Grid Quantize or Bars settings on each one...!

Incarn RecordWhen the Incarn Record button is pressed, the looping triggered by playing the black notes gets recorded onto the Incarn graph. The shape on the graph updates as you play the black notes, mirroring the looping effects that you're creating. When recording, you can make use of the Groove, Spread and Bounce knobs. You'll see that the shape drawn on the Incarn graph will reflect the action those knobs have on the looping audio. When you've created a shape that you like, click again on Incarn Record to stop the recording. After you've done this, and when you then play the black notes, the result of the shape you have recorded can be heard. There's a few points about Incarn Record to be aware of: The Grid Quantise value for the Incarn graph changes to '64' when you press the Incarn Record button. This is because it is necessary to have a high resolution to the graph to capture the looping caused by playing the very short black notes. Each time you enter Incarn Record mode by clicking on the Incarn Record button, the shape on the Incarn graph gets reset. So if you get the shape on the Incarn graph just right, don't press that button again! The shapes created when using the Incarn Record option in Pitch mode differ to those created when using the Incarn Record option in Normal mode. The details relating to this are on page 59.

Scratching the Incarn graphIf you're using the Scratch graph as the Incarn graph, what effect will turning up the Scratch knob have? Lucifer creates a scratch shape that's similar to the Incarn graph shape and applies that to the audio. (When you switch the Incarn effect on and off, you can see the shape on the Scratch/Incarn graph jumping between the Incarn shape and the Scratch shape.) It may be that the shape on the Incarn graph creates an interesting Scratch shape; it may not. Your only choice is to try it and see!

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12.The Crossfader and related effectsThe CrossfaderThere are two streams of audio within Lucifer. One is the dry, uneffected audio and the other is the wet, effected audio. The Crossfader allows you to mix between them. With the Crossfader set fully to the left, only dry audio will be output; with the Crossfader set fully to the right, only wet audio. A setting between these two extremes results in a mix of wet and dry audio. Be prepared for the occasions when you can't understand why your note playing and knob turning is having no apparent effect on the audio at all. It's bound to be the case that you've left the Crossfader in the dry position by mistake. (The person sat here writing this manual does this all too frequently.)

Dry ThruIf the Crossfader is set to the 'all wet' position and no notes are being played, you still hear audio from Lucifer, effected according to the shapes on the various graphs (if they are switched on). This behaviour when no notes are being played is appropriate when using Lucifer as an insert effect - when no notes are being played, the result is not silence. However, if you wish to use Lucifer as a send effect, it would be better if Lucifer didn't output audio when there are no notes being played. This can be achieved by turning the Dry Thru knob fully to the left to mute that audio entirely.

Crossfader ActionThere are two common behaviours possible when crossfading between two audio streams. They are termed equal power and equal gain. These behavio